The Christmas shopping season has kicked off, and retailers are splurging on promotions, early-store openings, heavy discounts, as well as free shipping on online purchases to lure customers. Now that the Thanksgiving feast is done, it’s time for the biggest shopping day of the year.
According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), more than 164 million Americans are expected to shop in stores and online during the Thanksgiving weekend (spanning four days — Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Sunday). Of them, 21% (34 million) plan to shop on Thanksgiving Day while 71% (116 million) will likely shop on Black Friday. Almost 41% (67 million) will go shopping on Small Business Saturday and 20% (32 million) are expected to shop on Sunday.
Special deals and promotions are attracting 65% of consumers to shop over the weekend, while the tradition of shopping over Thanksgiving weekend is inspiring 26% to spend. For 23%, shopping is “something to do over the holiday weekend,” and another 23% cited Thanksgiving weekend as their usual holiday shopping starting point.
According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, Black Friday shopping is expected to be strong, as consumers plan to spend an average of $554.90 with $207.30 dedicated to holiday gifts. About 71% of shoppers will go to a shopping center or mall during the weekend, with Millennials leading the pack at 83%.
The big spending is backed by a booming economy with strong GDP growth, a 50-year low unemployment rate, the fastest pace of wage gains in nearly a decade, and almost two decades consumer confidence.
What’s Hot?
Nearly half of the weekend’s shoppers plan to spend more this year than they did last year. About 65% will spend on holiday-related items like decorations and cards. As much as 87% will be hitting discount department stores such as Target (TGT – Free Report) and Walmart (WMT – Free Report), while 66% will spend at dollar/variety stores and 65%will shop at department stores. Among the most popular categories are TVs, video game consoles and games, Insta-pots and robotic vacuums.
